RubyRod
Seasoned Member
A big Cadillac Thank You to JustDennis for helping me replace my Trunk Struts.
I wasn't able to locate new Stabilis gas struts for my Trunk so I purchased a pair of TRW struts from RockAuto. We tried the unthread trick for the Driver's Side strut but the TRW lower clips have a brass threaded insert and the threads don't match the Stabilis clips. The Stabilis clips simply cut threads into the plastic clip body. Major Bummer.
We tried all sorts of tools/methods to access the lower clip but it's next to impossible with the Top hydraulic lines in the way. Moving the hydraulic assembly out of the way without separating the hydraulic lines would make things easier but we couldn't figure out how to do that. Hopefully I'll never have to remove any of the Top or Suspension modules down in the little cubby. Here's hoping anyway.
We decided that it would be "easier" to get at the spring clip if we unthreaded the body of the gas strut and leave only the lower plastic clip on the ball stud. It allows you to rotate the plastic clip body around on the ball stud for access from various angles. Eventually Dennis was able to get the long flat side of a wrecking bar down in the opening for the strut and use the sharp chisel tip to grab hold of the little dimple on the side of the spring clip that wraps around the clip body. Once he got a good grip on the little dimple he was able to use the curved part of the wrecking bar near the chisel end to pry open the metal clip enough to pop the lower clip off. Whew!
We considered just using a large screwdriver to get in between the vertical plate that the lower ball stud is welded to and the plastic body of the clip and just applying as much pressure as we could to force the clip off of the ball stud but there's barely enough room to get a screwdriver down in the recess and even less room to apply pressure. It's also risky to try to pry the lower clip off without opening the spring clip. I don't know how sturdy the weld is on the ball stud. You may damage or snap the ball stud off of the metal plate instead of popping the plastic strut clip off of the ball stud. If you can't find any other way to remove the lower clip it might be worth a try. But ... the wrecking bar is curved JUST ENOUGH to put some pressure on the dimple on the spring clip to open it AND pop the entire plastic clip body off at the same time.
Honestly, after a few feeble attempts on my part I was ready to throw in the towel and find a shop that claimed to have some experience with replacing these miserable struts. I've discussed it with a few nearby shops previously. But Dennis is no quitter. If he hadn't been determined to outsmart the d#$! clip there's no way I would have gotten these replaced on my own.
I wasn't able to locate new Stabilis gas struts for my Trunk so I purchased a pair of TRW struts from RockAuto. We tried the unthread trick for the Driver's Side strut but the TRW lower clips have a brass threaded insert and the threads don't match the Stabilis clips. The Stabilis clips simply cut threads into the plastic clip body. Major Bummer.
We tried all sorts of tools/methods to access the lower clip but it's next to impossible with the Top hydraulic lines in the way. Moving the hydraulic assembly out of the way without separating the hydraulic lines would make things easier but we couldn't figure out how to do that. Hopefully I'll never have to remove any of the Top or Suspension modules down in the little cubby. Here's hoping anyway.
We decided that it would be "easier" to get at the spring clip if we unthreaded the body of the gas strut and leave only the lower plastic clip on the ball stud. It allows you to rotate the plastic clip body around on the ball stud for access from various angles. Eventually Dennis was able to get the long flat side of a wrecking bar down in the opening for the strut and use the sharp chisel tip to grab hold of the little dimple on the side of the spring clip that wraps around the clip body. Once he got a good grip on the little dimple he was able to use the curved part of the wrecking bar near the chisel end to pry open the metal clip enough to pop the lower clip off. Whew!
We considered just using a large screwdriver to get in between the vertical plate that the lower ball stud is welded to and the plastic body of the clip and just applying as much pressure as we could to force the clip off of the ball stud but there's barely enough room to get a screwdriver down in the recess and even less room to apply pressure. It's also risky to try to pry the lower clip off without opening the spring clip. I don't know how sturdy the weld is on the ball stud. You may damage or snap the ball stud off of the metal plate instead of popping the plastic strut clip off of the ball stud. If you can't find any other way to remove the lower clip it might be worth a try. But ... the wrecking bar is curved JUST ENOUGH to put some pressure on the dimple on the spring clip to open it AND pop the entire plastic clip body off at the same time.
Honestly, after a few feeble attempts on my part I was ready to throw in the towel and find a shop that claimed to have some experience with replacing these miserable struts. I've discussed it with a few nearby shops previously. But Dennis is no quitter. If he hadn't been determined to outsmart the d#$! clip there's no way I would have gotten these replaced on my own.
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